


Never Trust a Wolf

by SquirrelRock77



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Angst, Injured Jasper Hale, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-25 23:09:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20033875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquirrelRock77/pseuds/SquirrelRock77
Summary: After being attacked by an unknown pack of wolves, Jasper struggles to put the past behind him.  Trusting his family is at the top of his list of priorities but setbacks aren't few and far between.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, let's all pretend that the Quileute wolves started phasing before Bella comes along and the treaty is still in effect as per usual. Please? Great, thanks.

Chapter One

He was out on his own. At the time, Jasper was the only member of the family who could afford a day off. Usually, the family tried to go out on hunting trips in parties of two or three, but the newest vegetarian was all too thirsty to wait for another's availability. Jasper Hale was stalking a deer from up in a tree when he caught the scent of a wolf.

At first, he thought it was one of the Quileute wolves, but they have no reason to be there, Jasper wasn't breaking the treaty in any way. Something wasn't right. Jasper didn't recognize this scent, plus there was more than one of them. He couldn't see them yet, but he could hear them, and they sounded close. There was no way of getting away without alerting the wolves of his presence, so Jasper stayed where he was, stayed as still as possible and quit breathing. He does anything that he can to control the flow of his scent so the wolves don't find him.

Despite his efforts, the wolves came closer and Jasper could see all three of them, three black wolves like Sam Uley, definitely not Quileute wolves. Jasper wouldn't say that he panicked when he saw them, but in reality, his mind was racing. His heart would've stopped for a second time if it could've when he locked eyes with one of them.

The entire forest was engulfed with growls, and snarls, and grumbles. he wouldn't be surprised if the humans heard the racket from town. Jasper felt cornered, he felt like a cat in a tree with dogs all around him. He turned his back to the mutts so he could climb further up the tree but before he could, the largest of the three jumped up and latched onto Jasper's ankle, pulling him down to the ground with a sickening thump.

The vampire couldn't scramble away fast enough, he landed on his back and was pounced on by the three wolves. Jasper did what he could to keep their teeth away from his body, kicking, scratching, biting, anything. One of the wolves ran away quickly, leaving only two left. A searing pain stopped Jasper in his tracks as one wolf sank his teeth in the flesh right below Jasper's neck, where his shoulder connects with his neck. It seemed to paralyze him for a second before he snapped out of it and overcame the growing pain.

He pushed another werewolf off of him and it hit a tree and let out a whimper. Jasper was panting from the pain and exertion and barely got to his feet before the last wolf charged at him, snapping its jaws. The vampire made his retreat up the large tree again, climbing higher than before and kept his eyes on the remaining wolf and watched it pace the ground beneath its prey.

Jasper fumbled with his phone as he pulled the newly cracked screen from his pocket and dialed his brother's number, hoping and praying that Emmett would pick up.

"Hey, Jazz," Emmett's voice relays over the line.

"Emmett I'm in trouble," He pauses and covers the bite mark with his hand, letting out a pained grunt, "call Carlisle," he pants, "wolves."

Jasper doesn't need to say anything else because Emmett soon replies, "Alright, hang in there Jazz. I'll get Carlisle, we'll find you."

Jasper doesn't have the energy to say anything else, he just hangs up and slides the phone back into his pocket. He leans his back against the trunk of the tree and watches as the wolf tries to jump up to grab a hold of the vampire. Jasper tries to relax his nerves, he knows that the wolf can't reach him, he's safe in the tree.

It feels like hours before he hears a sign of rescue from Emmett and Carlisle, out in the distance, Jasper can hear Carlisle yell, "Jasper, where are you?"

It doesn't take long for Emmett and Carlisle to hear the response of a pained southern accent, "Carlisle!"

The two sprint towards the vampire in need and quickly spot the black wolf attempting to jump and catch Jasper by the ankle. Emmett immediately attacks the wolf, tackling it in the side and crushing the wolf's body into a nearby tree. Once Emmett lets go, the werewolf runs, whimpering, in the direction of the others.

Meanwhile, Carlisle had climbed up the tree and is now trying to get his newest son to calm down enough for the doctor to even get close enough to touch him. Jasper's in too much pain and is panicking too much to fully understand that Carlisle is trying to help him. He cowers away from the older vampire, not wanting anyone to touch the wound in his shoulder.

"Jasper, let me see it. I won't hurt you."

Carlisle has never seen Jasper so _scared_, the boy was a major in the civil war for God's sake. But here he was, shaking like a leaf and cowering away from Carlisle. Soon enough, Jasper took a step forward and let the doctor take a look at the large bite mark. Jasper doesn't make any eye contact and tries not to move his head.

Carlisle is careful not to scare Jasper when he moves what is left of his shirt over his shoulder to see how bad the bite is. The white marble skin surrounding the bite mark is mangled but fixable. The older vampire isn't as worried about the bite itself, as Jasper's state of mind, he already knows that they'll never be able to let him go hunting by himself ever again.

He makes sure to speak softly when he opens his mouth to coax Jasper out of the tree, "Come on, let's get you out of here and to the house Jasper."

His voice shakes, "Yeah, alright."

It doesn't take long for the three to run back to the Cullen house. Carlisle led the way, determined to get to the house first, and Emmett stayed close to Jasper. Once Carlisle knew he was close enough, he called out to Edward in his mind.

_Edward, stay out of Jasper's head for a little while._

Edward met the three on the front porch and sends a nod to the doctor, signaling that he got the message. Jasper trots right into the house without saying a word and darts up the stairs and into the room in an attempt to avoid the rest of his family. Of course, he found Alice in the room, waiting for him.

"Jazz I'm so sorry, I didn't see it coming." She apologized, hugging him around the waist and making sure not to touch his shoulder. He could feel how sincere she was.

"There was nothing you could've done Darlin'" He assured, looking down at the pixie-haired vampire wrapped around his waist.

"I just feel guilty." She sighs.

"Don't be."

Alice sits him down on the couch in his room and helps take off his torn and mangled shirt. He groans when he has to slide his shirt off of his shoulders but overall keeps the pain out of his features. He leans back gingerly into the cushions and lets out another groan. A knock on the door snaps Jasper's attention away from the pain in his shoulder and Carlisle walks into the room.

"Let me see it, Jasper." He says when he notices the vampire in question begin to flinch away.

The boy keeps his wary eyes on the other male as he inches closer, feeling his fight or flight instincts crawling their way into the back of his mind. Jasper realizes that he must have been projecting his emotions a little bit because he soon felt a light, comforting hand on his back.

It usually happened like this- even though the last time it happened was over five decades ago- Jasper would end up getting hurt or bitten, he would let Carlisle look at it, but as soon as he was done he wouldn't let anyone touch him. He'd become feral in a way, only letting Alice anywhere near him, and become even more standoffish if it's even possible. The major was incredibly stiff and alert to begin with, add a recent injury to the mix and he becomes like a wild animal. He even lashed out at Esme last time and Jasper still couldn't forgive himself.

Unfortunately, Carlisle wasn't able to do anything more than smooth down the granite skin around the gnarly bite wound and wrap it with a bandage, then just wait for Jasper's body to heal itself. Carlisle was hesitant when first touching his newest son and he saw the inner turmoil Jasper was going through. The doctor watched as Jasper turned his face away from Carlisle to prevent himself from biting the hand that was currently causing pain. Of course, the older vampire was ready to pull his hand away if such an instance occurred and was watching the pained movements of the blonde carefully. He wanted to voice his apology, he hated causing anyone any pain even if it was to help, but saying anything would rile Jasper up and make him dangerous. Instead, Carlisle pushed his sympathy towards the empath to let him feel his apology, rather than voicing it.

Once the doctor was finished wrapping a bandage around Jasper's wounded shoulder, he stood quietly from the side of the couch and drifted towards the door. He was about to leave the room quietly when he heard a small, polite, southern accent say, "Thank you sir." from the couch. Carlisle nodded briefly before closing the door behind him, continuing to be silent.

Everyone in the house had seen it coming, they were all there when it happened the first time, Jasper stayed quiet, only speaking when spoken to and only when necessary. He never walked through the middle of a room, only slinking around the perimeter to stay out of people's way. If he was forced to be in a room with someone, his back was always facing a wall so no one could catch him off guard by sneaking up from behind. Paranoia was the correct word to describe his condition, but that's just how Jasper was, the sheer wildness never fully evaporated out of his system. That was a fact that no one could fully understand.

Sure, he had gotten better, give people a small smile instead of just warily staring at them, settled down and could spend time with his adoptive family instead of brooding and avoiding them at all costs, but all of that progress had been thrown out of the window when he was attacked. It would take time for him to readjust to the civilized way of life because right now, all that is flying through Jasper's mind is that anything around him could be a threat, jump out of a corner and attack, even if it is a member of his own family. No one would be able to understand his struggles, but they all knew he had it hard to begin with, being flung from one war into another, more brutal vampire war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope y'all like this, usually I don't post anything so this is my first fanfiction on any site. I don't know how long this will end up being and I can't promise a regular posting schedule but let's see how this turns out shall we?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

This werewolf bite hurts worse than any vampire bite ever has, it leaves a dull throbbing in my granite skin. I know it won't leave a mark like the rest of mine but at the moment it feels like my shoulder is being ripped apart all over again. I can still smell the wolves on my skin, hear their snarls as they surrounded me, see their glaring eyes as they locked on their prey. I could have been torn to shreds in an instant if it weren't for Carlisle and Emmett.

Carlisle and Emmett... and Esme, and Rosalie, and Edward, and Alice. I can't let what happened last time happen again. I can't be afraid of them, push them away and avoid them. It wasn't their fault to begin with, I should be seeking comfort from them.

I quickly open up the door to my room before I can change my mind and join the rest of my family in the living room. When I reach the bottom of the stairs I can practically feel everyone's eyes on me. I try not to feel uncomfortable underneath their gazes but I can't help but look away. I can feel the concern pouring off of every single one of them.

Carlisle thankfully breaks the silence, "How are you feeling Jasper?"

I shrug with my uninjured shoulder but even then, an extra shot of throbbing pain hits me, "Just hurts, it's nothing new." I try to make it sound as nonchalant as possible because of my past handling newborns.

"You've never been bitten by a wolf before, Brother." Edward points out as if I didn't know that already.

I gingerly place a hand over the bandages and send a playful glare at him- as playful as I can manage at least. "I am fine, but thank you for the concern." I nod and make my way to the front door but stop when I hear Edward mumbling to the rest of the family.

"He knows that it was none of our faults, and doesn't want to distance himself from us like he did last time." Edward then walks out of the room towards the front door, towards me.

I feel my stone body stiffen and my fight or flight instincts bubbling back to the top but I quickly push them back down so Edward doesn't notice. I can feel a small bit of confusion coming off of him so I open the front door. Walking out, I hold the door open for him to join me then close it behind him.

When I turn back to face him, he's already halfway down the steps and a wall of guilt hits me like an oncoming train. He shakes his head, "It was my fault, I knew how badly you needed to go hunting and I didn't go with you." I tried to stop him from continuing but he waves me off, "Instead, I was too stuck up my ass to pay attention. You went out on your own and look at what happened."

I went out on my own, got attacked, _and_ came back thirsty. I hadn't realized how prominent the burning in my throat is until it was brought up in conversation.

I suck in an unnecessary breath, "Well, do you want to make it up to me and go now?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow. Edward's eyes aren't nearly as dark as mine, but this might make some of his guilt fade without me having to force it.

It doesn't take long for Edward to agree, "Yeah, okay. Let me tell Carlisle that we're going out, then I'll be right back here."

"I'll be here."

>>------>

Four deer and a mountain lion later, Edward and I started to make our way back to the house. Over the entirety of our trip, I slowly ebb away at my brother's guilt. I make sure to keep it as unnoticeable as possible, so I only take a little away at a time but leave everything else there so it doesn't look like I'm trying to make him happy. Of course, I haven't forgotten that he can read my mind but I'm just going to hope that he hasn't noticed yet.

We continue to run towards Forks and I feel so much more satisfied then I have for quite a while. Even though it isn't human blood, it should quicken the healing process. I know that's how it worked whenever else I got injured.

My mind and my feet stop dead in their tracks when I catch a new scent. Wet dog...

Edward stops and backtracks to find me, my shoulders heaving and shaking. Flashbacks of the wolf attack invade my head and all I can hear are the snarls. Even though I don't need the air, I instinctively start to hyperventilate and I look for any way to get out of here. I don't even notice the other vampire getting closer to me.

"Jasper?" Edward says cautiously, I meet his honey gold eyes, "Hey it's alright, let's get out of here."

My eyes scan our surroundings a second time to make sure that the wolves aren't lurking in the shadows, and lightly nod my head. I follow close to my brother as we sprint through the forest, dodging branches and swerving around large trees. The running distracts me from my racing thoughts for now as I concentrate on my steps.

I feel a tiny hint of... accomplishment(?) from my brother as we run, but I try not to dwell on it so my messed up head doesn't make it seem like he was happy that I was scared shitless there for a moment. Maybe he's just thankful that I'm distracted or something.

It's almost an hour before we hit the Forks city limit and as soon as I step through the front door, the distraction wore off. My hands shake and my thoughts race but I keep my actions controlled to not concern the rest of my family. I take a deep breath and run my fingers through my hair to get it out of my face but to no avail.

The living room was empty until I hear Carlisle's footsteps coming down the stairs from his study. I look up at him and he gives me a look of confusion. "Is everything alright Jasper?"

I attempt to keep my voice as steady as I possibly can but fail miserably, "I, we were running and... God I, I could smell it." It might just be my imagination but I could smell the wolves on my skin again. "I panicked."

Edward steps in, saving me from my floundering self. "We were running back and he caught the scent of a wolf, he stopped and I could barely snap him out of it. I know you told me to stay out of his head," He shoots an apologetic glance towards me, "but his thoughts were in a frenzy, it was very hard to ignore."

One look at Carlisle and I could see the gears working in his head, I don't need Edward's ability to know what he's thinking. I drop my shoulders and disregard the sharp pain that runs down my arm, "Carlisle, I know what you're thinking... No. I don't have PTSD. I'm fine."

Carlisle quickly tries to deny my accusation, "I wasn't going to go that far, Jasper. We understand that it's hard right after-"

I yank up one of my sleeves to reveal the numerous scars marring my granite skin in a heat of rage, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? I should know that one first hand." I quickly fall off the anger train and calm myself down, "You know, I should go... Find Alice or something." I mumble, scratching the back of my neck. "Sorry."

I turn to walk up the stairs and when I reach the top, I hear Carlisle mumble to Edward in an attempt to keep me from hearing them, "Just keep an eye on him for me, I'm worried about him."

I stride into my room and let the gravity of everything that's happened sink in. I interlock my fingers behind my head and pace the length of the room. I can't have PTSD, I'm fine, I'm a damn vampire for God's sake, how could I have PTSD? I was a Major in the civil war, saw death everywhere I looked and killed countless people, a couple of overgrown lap dogs shouldn't have gotten to me. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger but I've never felt so _weak_.

This is pathetic.

One hundred and sixty-five years on this earth, almost a hundred of them fighting against other vampires on Maria's behalf, and I fall apart like this _now_?

Without thinking, I swipe a heavy book off of one of the shelves and hurl it across the room, it lands with a thud in a heap on the floor. For a moment, I just stop and stare at the pages on the ground.

"What did that book ever do to you?" Alice's voice causes me to jump in surprise, I hadn't heard her come in.

I just shake my head in defeat and run my hands down my face. My instincts tell me not to turn my back to her but I do anyway, I can trust her. I just don't want Alice to see me like this.

Only humans can get PTSD... Right?

"God, I hate this." I confess, "I'm afraid of a measly pack of guard dogs."

Alice seems to think about her response before she says anything that could trigger me, "Jazz, vampires and wolves have always been enemies, c'mon they were literally born to destroy our kind."

I let out a small laugh, "Whose side are you on?"

I listen as her footsteps come nearer until she lightly pries my hands from my face. "I'm just saying that your newly found fear isn't completely unreasonable."

I take in a shuddering breath, "I guess you're right."

Alice gives me a beaming smile and a peck on the cheek before she practically skips out of our room, "I'm always right Jazzy, haven't you noticed?"

I grumble as I walk over to pick up the copy of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" and place it back onto the shelf. Even if I didn't realize it at the moment, Alice somehow lifted my mood. I still don't know how she does it.

I trot down the stairs for the second time today to find everyone in the living room. Most of the family lounge around on the couch, watching the nightly news, Emmett and Rosalie are showing their usual amount of affection towards each other and the lust between the two almost make me want to choke. Edward and Alice are playing a game of chess and between the two of them, you never know who's going to win.

I make my way around the arm of the couch and sit as far away from the two love birds as possible. Esme and Carlisle share the love seat.

"Get a room." I mutter under my breath.

Rose scoffs, "You're just jealous because your Alice is playing chess with another man."

I roll my eyes, "That is hardly the problem here Rose and you know it."

"So what is?" She continues, knowing the answer already.

Carlisle clears his throat, not wanting to hear the argument but my mind reels. I suddenly hear one of the wolves growling at me and I clamp my eyes shut, wanting it to just go away. I take an unnecessarily deep breath and open my eyes again.

Thankfully, it looks like no one notices my slight panic so I easily act as if nothing happened. I cross my ankles and lean back into the couch and try to ignore that suffocating emotion coming from my adoptive siblings.

several minutes pass before Emmett speaks up. "So Jazz, You goin' to school tomorrow with us?"

I have to think about that, I probably should. I mean, it would give me some kind of distraction and then I wouldn't have to spend another full day at the house. I've already missed two days.

"Yeah, I might as well." I let out a sigh.

Carlisle looks over at me with furrowed eyebrows and I can tell that he doesn't think that that's a great idea but I know if I spend one more full day here, then I'll go stir crazy.

Emmett continues the conversation, missing the look on Carlisle's face, "We got new seats in history, I sit behind you now and you've got a girl named Hannah as your partner."

I look at him in confusion, "He gave us new seats in the middle of the week?"

He nods, "I know, it's weird right?"

Alice walks around the couch in the same manner that I did and finds her seat in my lap. I offer her a small smile and she quickly kisses my cheek as she did earlier. I feel waves of affection coming off of her and my smile widens.

Rosalie mumbles, "Get a room."

I mumble back, "You're just jealous." A peak of annoyance comes off of her and I chuckle. I then ask Alice, "So who won?"

She grins, "I did."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper's first day back at school after the attack and he meets his new table partner. Will she be a friend or foe?

Chapter 3

I step out of the shower with a towel around my hips to find Alice sitting cross-legged on the bed. She locks eyes with me and stands up quickly, in an instant she stands before me with her hands on my chest. I don't need my ability to know that she wanted me. Sadly, I could not fulfill her wishes.

"Alice, we've got to go to school." I whisper, trying to let her down lightly.

In her eyes, I see her mood deflate slightly, "I already knew you were going to say that... It was worth a try." She shrugs her shoulders and steps away, letting me get dressed.

I close the closet door behind me after changing into a pair of jeans and a black button-up shirt. I'd rather wear a pair of boots but instead, I lace up a pair of black converse and lope down the stairs. Most of the family is ready to leave except for Rose who is usually the last one down anyways. Carlisle already left for the hospital and Esme is in her study.

Finally, Rosalie comes down the stairs in a form-fitting grey blouse and tight black jeans. As usual, she sets off waves of confidence and I have to turn away to ignore it.

"Let's get out of here." Edward mumbles while walking to the front door then walks to the garage. Alice wraps her arm around my waist and I return the favor as we follow our brother out of the door. Alice and Rosalie walk towards Rose's red Mercedes while Edward, Emmett and I hop into the jeep. I take the driver's seat, Edward sits in the passenger side, and Emmett sits in the back.

I turn the key and the jeep roars to life. I take a deep breath because even something as simple as starting up the jeep reminds me of those damn wolves. After Rosalie backs out of the garage, I throw the jeep into reverse and back out too.

As per usual, Rosalie makes it a race to see who can get to the school faster and I take the bait, speeding up to catch her. On a straightaway, I pass the little red car and speed towards the school. I pull into the parking lot, park the jeep, and wait for Rose and Alice. All three of us have grins on our faces as the red car pulls into the parking spot next to us. A wave of annoyance follows in their wake.

"That's no fair Jasper, that was a no-passing zone!" Rosalie argues.

I smirk as Emmett climbs out of the back of the jeep to console his girlfriend. I just lean back onto the door, "We won, didn't we?"

We hear the first bell ring and we all walk away from the vehicles. Alice walks by my side until we get to her first class, Junior level English literature. I lean down and give her a small kiss, "I'll see you at lunch."

She smiles, "Can't wait."

>>------>

Alice and I walk into the lunchroom and spot the rest of the family at the table we had claimed two years ago. Edward is staring at me so I send him a glare, _Stay out of my head_. He drops his eyes and we sit down. Rosalie still feels cross about the race this morning and I suppress a laugh at the face she makes at me.

"How you doin' Jazz?" Emmett asks, making it sound like a normal greeting, but I could feel the concern from him.

"I am perfectly fine, just don't mention it." I warn.

Alice pulls her seat closer to mine and I lay my arm over her shoulders and listen as the others strike up conversations with each other. Emmett tries to challenge Edward and me to a wrestling match, but the girls shut that down almost as soon as the idea was proposed. Alice says that it's supposed to snow soon and that gets Emmett into even higher spirits.

"Perfect wrestling conditions." I grin. Emmett nods too.

"No!" Rosalie says sternly, "Don't you two know what 'no' means?"

Both Emmett and I raise our hands in surrender but in our minds, we both knew what was going to happen after school. A wrestle was on. Edward scoffs and rolls his eyes, but doesn't say anything about the situation. Alice probably has seen it coming anyway, there was no stopping us.

Before we know it, the bell rings and we all stand from our positions at the table. We each throw away the uneaten food on our trays and start walking to our next classes. As Emmett, Alice and I walk toward Alice's class, she whispers to me, "You're gonna like your new partner in history. Her name is Hannah and she's very nice."

I nod and stop in front of her class. With a kiss, I bid her goodbye and tell her that I'll see her after school as I usually do. Emmett and I continue walking to the history class and he slings his arm over my shoulder, gripping it. The bite mark quickly faded, but the movement still sends a jolt of pain down my arm. I let out a small hiss of pain and I must have projected my feelings a little bit because Emmett flinches too.

"Damn, sorry I forgot." He says quickly, pulling his arm off of me.

"Won't be the last time." I mumble, "It's fine."

We walk into the room and the room is already almost full of students. Emmett finds his seat in the middle of the class and I remember what he had told me before, _We got new seats in history, I sit behind you now and you've got a girl named Hannah as your partner_. I find the empty seat in front of him, next to it is a girl with long brown hair and lightly tanned skin.

I walk up to the desk and say, "You're Hannah right?" she nods, "Well it looks like we're sittin' together now."

She offers a smile to me and I return it without trying to make her uncomfortable. I get a sense of natural confidence from her and I find it comforting that she won't be too awkward around me and Emmett (because we come as a package deal).

As soon as I take my seat, the teacher walks up to the desk and drops a packet of papers in front of me. "Mr. Hale? These are the assignments that you have missed, I expect these done before the weekend."

I nod and flip through the papers, "Yes Sir."

Once the teacher walks back to the front of the class, I hear snickers coming from Emmett behind me. "Looks like Jazzy has some extra homework to do!"

I roll my eyes, then roll up the packet of papers like you would a newspaper and turn in my chair to smack my adoptive brother. I hear Hannah let out a giggle next to me and I can't help but crack a smile.

Mr. Jackson starts his lecture on the revolutionary war and I start to zone out. I've already got a degree in U.S. History, there isn't much more that could be said that would surprise me. I hear Lafayette's name mentioned a couple of times in his conversation so I know that he's talking about how the French helped us defeat the British forces.

I'm getting a whole lot of boredom from the class and I can't entirely blame them. Soon enough, Jackson is finished talking and orders us to talk with our table mates about the battle of Yorktown.

Hannah looks up from the doodles on her note sheet and looks at me with a very bored expression that matched the rest of the room. She props her head up with a hand and turns to me, "I like studying the Civil war so much better." She complains.

Emmett butts into our conversation from behind me, "Yeah Jazz _loved_ the Civil war."

I really hope she didn't notice the past tense verb there, in a human's mind it would be impossible for me to be in the Civil war myself. I send a glare at Emmett anyway, just for good measure.

But Hannah's confusion is present, "Loved?" She seems suspicious but there is no way that she could possibly know anything about vampires.

I silently curse myself but lie smoothly, "Yeah, at our old school we'd already studied the Civil war, I found it fascinating."

I can still taste a bit of surmise coming off of her but she takes my story easily enough. I relax slightly into my chair wait as the minutes tick on. I can feel her eyes looking me over but I don't try to stop her because it would make her even more suspicious.

"So you guys are brothers? You look nothing alike." Hannah says, trying to start up a conversation.

I say, "Foster child." at the same time that Emmett says, "Adopted."

She feels embarrassed, "Right, should've known that. Hale and Cullen." She face palms and mumbles under her breath, "Idiot."

I notice that one of the rings that she's wearing is supposed to look like a D ring snaffle bit for horse riding, maybe I can ease some of her tension without having to do it manually. "Do you ride horses?" I try to keep my voice light.

She clears her throat and I can't help but clench my hand into a fist on the table, she just cleared her throat Goddamn it. "Yeah, my grandma has horses and I ride whenever I go to her house."

I am about to nod when the bell rings and everyone gets up from their seats to go to their last class. Hannah takes her time to gather her note sheets and pen then turns to me one last time.

"Well it was nice to meet you, Jasper. Emmett, you too." We both smile and nod, then walk out of the classroom into the sea of people in the hallways.

Emmett follows me and whispers into my ear, "You were extra talkative today." I could hear the grin in his voice.

"Well, call it a welcome distraction."

I walk off towards my last class of the day thinking about that girl Hannah, she seemed very suspicious of me and Emmett, almost as if she knew that vampires exist. I don't know what kind of threat she may be, but eventually, I will be finding out.

Great, now for the rest of the day, I'll be on edge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this update took so long to upload, I've had horrible writers block and absolutely no time to write. But hopefully the next chapter will come sooner, my school district has shut down campus because of the Corona virus so I'll have plenty of free time to work on this story. Make sure to tell me in the comments how you like the story so far!


End file.
